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The Business Times Contributors THE BUSINESS TIMES July 7-20, 2022JANUARY 15-28, 2015 Opinion Opinion Business BriefsA new year affords Business Peoplea new opportunity to meet local needs Almanac
A new year almost always brings an opportunity for a fresh start and renewed ambition to do things better.
In business, that usually boils down to providing customers better products and services faster and at lower cost than competitors. Part of the process must include listening to customers to determine what they actually need and then meeting that need. After all, it does little good to offer the latest and greatest if nobody actually wants what you’re selling.
Just like the businesses that belong to the group, the Grand Junction Area Chamber of Commerce invariably starts out the new year with a reassessment of the services and resources it provides and how well they match with members needs. Jeff Franklin, the new chairman of the chamber board of directors, personifies this approach in describing what he considers his role for the coming year: listen to members, determine their needs and then meet those needs. It’s a role with which Franklin is familiar as market president of Bank of Colorado.
The process will take on a more structured approach in what the chamber plans as the resumption of a program aptly called Listening to Business. Under the program, business owners participate in in-depth interviews to identify barriers to growth and other problems they encounter.
The new year offers a good time to join the proverbial club.
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It’s that time of year when resolutions and prognostications abound. My favorite saying applied to New Year’s resolutions is in saying they’re basically a bunch of promises to break the first week of January. And while I won’t predict a whole lot, I can pretty much accurately nail a few things that without question will make the news. You will see these are pretty, well, predictable: ■ Prediction one: There will be some sort of weather event, natural disaster or heinous occurrence where someone will be interviewed and say the following: “I’ve never seen anything like that in my lifetime.” It’s as if this person is a required attendee at every news reporting event. While I understand most people’s perspective can indeed be limited by, or contained within, their own personal experiences, it is too much to ask to consult some historical perspective before saying such a thing? Yes, this response can apply to some events. But when it comes to weather and natural disasters, I’m pretty sure this is simply history repeating itself. Same as it has for millions and millions of years. More important, the planet made it! What didn’t were certain species. How’s that for perspective? ■ Prediction two: When it comes to a crime or something that occurs between humans, the other required attendee at all news reporting events is the person who says this: “They we’re just the nicest people, and in no way did I see something like this coming.” Exactly. No one does most of the time when it comes to neighbors and acquaintances. People should be surprised at what goes on from time to time in their neighborhoods, towns and with people they know because people are good. And for the times that they shouldn’t be shocked — like with politicians, repeat offenders and terrorists — where’s the interview that says, “This doesn’t surprise me in the least.” ■ Prediction three: Something good will happen economically, and the government will take credit for it. The most recent example is gas prices, where people ask me why I won’t credit the president for low gas prices. My answer is simple: Government never makes the price of something go down and simply takes credit for good news. Gas pricing is subject to many global factors. Now there are government answers to addressing some of them to keep prices stable for Americans, but our government has none of them in place. The only things it has in place in the
Bold predictions for 2015 more like not-so-bold repeats long run always hurt consumers. Another fact is that unemployment reaches a certain level based on the economy. And while the government might brag the number is low, it’s more than likely the government did something to cause that number being low — and not in a good way. Conversely, when business picks up, it’s because the people who need to buy widgets who were not buying widgets because the economy was contracting due to natural (or unnatural, government caused) reasons, decided we better buy some widgets. The government had nothing to do with this. ■ Prediction four: In keeping with things the government does, I predict the government will manipulate the numbers to make the claim the economy is getting better because of how hard it is working to help all of us “working Americans.” Now Craig Hall you might say, “Craig, you always say this about President Obama because you don’t like him.” You’re right in a sense. I don’t know the man, but what I know of him and his thinking, I don’t like it or him one iota. Before you go off, however, I didn’t like President Bush and his bailouts, stimulus and his abandoning the free market to save the free market. And I don’t know him either. What the government does, and the only thing it can do, is hurt the economy. Unless it does nothing or put criminals in jail instead of partnering with them, nothing the government does will help. Always look at it this way, whatever the government says it is doing, whatever the name of the law it is passing, or whatever the name or goal of the bureaucracy it is presenting to the people, expect the polar opposite to occur. I guess what I’m saying is that perhaps it’s time to get out of our own perspective. There’s plenty of history books and historical research out there to begin to understand that all of this has happened before. And it will again, whether the topic is people or government. The best recommendation is to find some books or try that whole Google thing. There’s a lot of information on the Great Depression. The truth is it wasn’t even a good one until the government got involved. There’s also plenty of research on the medieval warm period when the planet was much warmer than today with a whole lot less people (and warmer well before man was here at all). And yep, people have been killing other surprised people since history was first written. Maybe some research will help stop all of these trends. Otherwise, we’ll be saying we’ve never seen anything like it in our lives. And not in a good way. Craig Hall is owner and publisher of the Business Times. Reach him at 424-5133 Copyright © 2022 — All rights reserved. F or publisher@thebusinesstimes.com. ✦
Think about it. Is there an easier way to do nothing than promise every voter you lust after you’ll do everything for them?
Well, you don’t actually do nothing. I mean, government has to do something. Like hold a hearing, write a sternly worded letter, throw money at a problem or set up a public relations event to show they’re taking some type of action. Yet, that action is the opposite (or end result) of doing something that caused the problem in the first place. Worse, every action helps the insiders and hurts the everyday people like you and me.
Look no further than the Biden administration for myriad examples. But I’ll try to keep it to just a few highlights of the most obvious.
Let’s start with the most vulnerable among us. No, this isn’t about abortion. It’s about baby formula. This is government at its most obvious at screwing up a problem it created. Regulations have left the United States with only a handful of formula producers. Then the feds shut down the largest plant in the country because a few babies got sick. Seriously. It then took its sweet time “due to COVID” in doing inspections at the plant as it was shut down to get it back up and running — over six months. Yet, the government didn’t foresee a shortage. For the record, the company (which knows a hell of a lot more about safety and making formula than bureaucrats) found no link between its formula and the illnesses.
So here we are today in the greatest nation ever that’s stepped up to every challenge in its history IMPORTING formula from Europe (yes, the same continent we’ve saved multiple times and continue to provide protection for) on Air Force cargo planes. By the way, that formula doesn’t meet our standards —standards set, ironically, by the feds. Now that same plant is closed due to real contamination from flooding, and the problem goes on. What do the feds want to do? Look into the “monopoly” of formula makers so it has even more control over creating formula shortages. Why do you think the supply chain is still broken? It affects this as much as anything.
If one contrasts the formula emergency with the tens of thousands of illnesses and Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System claims from vaccines versus the mandate monopolies of our governments, one can only conclude it’s exactly how they want it and it’s not about health. Plus, we know how most Democrats feel about babies.
Can we talk about inflation and gasoline prices? You know they’re NOT temporary because Ol’ Joe said so and
What’s ahead for 2022: Glass half full or half empty? promised to fix it. No, not by using In promising to do everything, government accomplishes nothing America’s might and work ethic and
I’m by nature a glass-half-full kind of guy. Locked in a room filled with history of meeting challenges. Rather, horse poop, I’m the one digging for a pony. I’m not sure whether that makes me by begging enemies for more oil and hopelessly naive or naively hopeless. enriching bad people as well as spending I can’t argue against the value of recognizing the downside more money than government ever has to situations. In some circumstances, what you don’t know — in history, in spite of history showing or underestimate — will kill you. But there’s also a danger, overspending is a root cause of inflation. I believe, in dwelling on the negative if it prevents you from Worse, they’re lying to us about it and trying to achieve something positive. That’s not to mention the blaming the oil companies — and soon risk of self-fulfilling prophesy. You worry something bad will will blame corporate greed for all of it if happen and, lo and behold, it does. they haven’t begun in some areas already. It’s better to acknowledge what’s wrong, try to fix it and Inflation isn’t increasing 8 percent or move on with hopeful expectations for success. This lengthy explanation serves as a prologue to my real Craig Hall so. That’s not even close. On the things we need to survive it’s closer to 30 percent. Phil Castle topic. Or, rather, question. What’s ahead for the second half of 2022? Will the proverbial glass be half full, half empty or And that’s without gas for the car, which is worse. A bunch of arrogant orifices something completely different? who never go to the store or fill up their
As with all economic considerations, the answer remains essentially cars are the only people on the planet who the same. It depends. It depends on who you ask as well as the effects of a can claim such a lie without a bolt from combination of factors known and unknown. the heavens hitting them. Yet they do this
A quarterly survey asks Colorado business leaders what they think, and the every day because they know two things: latest results are grim. The Leeds Business Confidence Index fell 12.8 points to Telling you what you want to hear will get 41.1 for the third quarter, the fifth-lowest reading in the history of the index. your vote, and they never suffer the reality By the way, readings below 50 reflect more negative than positive responses. from what they create. Plus, a payoff of There was more bad news. Individual readings for each of six metrics the index $1,200 a year keeps you quiet towards tracks also slipped below 50. them, yet fighting for them against those of
Asked to provide the reasons for their responses, 60 percent of business us who know they’re crooked as can be. leaders cited inflation and 27 percent cited interest rates. Only 6 percent cited And speaking of telling us what we recession. Yet, 23 percent of those who responded said they believed the United want to hear, you’re going to hear a lot about States is already in recession and 57 percent said they expect the economy to slip student loan forgiveness as we approach into recession next year. the coming election. At this point, it’s just
But even as the index and its metrics tracking expectations for the economy, words because even President Biden-mysales, profits, hiring and capital expenditures were down, other indicators offer time knows giving up that kind of slavemore encouragement. level leverage over people in exchange for
The labor market has rebounded from the COVID-19 pandemic and remains votes is a bad idea. That is, until it’s the last strong. Nonfarm payrolls in Colorado have increased 1.2 percent above the arrow in the quiver, which student loans still pre-pandemic peak even as the monthly jobless rate has dropped to 3.5 percent. could become. For now, it’s just a teaser on In Mesa County, payrolls increased 3,382 over the past year — a gain of 4.7 percent a program which never should have been — as the seasonally unadjusted jobless rate dropped 2.5 points to 3.3 percent. implemented in the first place. Tax collections, a measure of retail sales and lodging activity, continue to increase. Only government could come up with
I’m no economist. I don’t even play one on TV. I’m just an observer who a ploy to get unqualified citizens to take out reports the facts. Just the facts. And maybe I am too optimistic by nature. loans they have no chance of paying back
But I hold out hope for the second half of 2022. That the glass, especially here for an item not worth the paper it’s printed in the Grand Valley, will remain at least half full. If nothing else, I’m grateful to still on. And then use taxpayers as guarantors. have a glass. All student loans did was make universities richer while making the products of Phil Castle is editor of the Business Times. Reach him at 424-5133 or universities lose value — through, of phil@thebusinesstimes.com. course, more government promises for more F factions of voters. If this sounds eerily familiar, it’s because you don’t have to go too far back in history to see the mortgage mess brought to you by government. It’s about to occur again, just with different causes — unless you count government involvement, which is always the main one. Everything above is still going on to this day with plans to continue. Worse, it’s because that’s how government wants it. Doing “everything” accomplishes only government goals. Even when doing nothing. Craig Hall is owner and publisher of the Business Times. Reach him at 424-5133 or publisher@thebusinesstimes.com.
Government to blame for inflationary trends, not producer gouging
Skyrocketing gasoline prices. Exploding home prices and rents. Escalating food costs. Inflationary trends have dominated the thoughts of most people for the past two years. Sometimes citizens make a plaintive outcry for the government to do something, anything, to ease suffering. It’s ironic, though, to ask government to manage outof-control prices
Phyllis when government interference is the
Hunsinger cause of the problem. The price of a product is a function of supply and demand. Consumers have a desire to acquire a product, and producers manufacture a supply to meet demand. The equilibrium market price of a product is the price at which quantity supplied equals quantity demanded.
What happens when this equilibrium is disrupted? What are the causes of the disruption?
The United States national debt approaches $31 trillion. The U.S. doesn’t have enough money to pay its bills. Unlike private citizens, the government can print money. These newly minted dollars are added to the economy as fiat money — the face value of the printed money far exceeds its commodity value.
Writing for the Foundation for Economic Education, Dan Sanchez noted the extra printed money enables customers to bid up the prices charged by their suppliers, who in turn use the extra money to bid up the prices charged by their suppliers. This is how new money raises prices across the board, although unevenly, as it circulates through the economy.
Some in the Biden administration accused producers of taking advantage of product shortages and supply chain constraints by excessively raising prices. As Sanchez put it: “Blaming rising prices on profit seeking is like blaming a plane crash on gravity.”
Businesses can’t stay in business without making a profit, a well-established fact. Why are business profits deemed excessive? Actions taken by the federal government set the stage to disrupt the free market and directly affect prices.
For example:
n Stifling the oil and natural gas industry with punitive ideological policies and moving the U.S. from a net exporter to a major importer. n Forcing businesses to shut down in the COVID-19 pandemic, in turn disrupting supply chains. n Destroying commodities due to a lack of available truckers to transport goods. n Paying workers more to stay home, creating a labor shortage throughout the economy. n Printing money to compensate for extraordinary deficit spending.
The Consumer Price Index released June 10 reflected an 8.6 percent increase over the past year in the price of a basket of consumer goods a typical household buys.
Brad Polumbo, policy correspondent with the Foundation for Economic Education, noted that producer prices rose 10.8 percent. Producers aren’t gouging consumers.
Government spokespersons never acknowledge facts or truthfully answer the question, “Who created this problem?” The financial health of the United States and its citizens is on the line. Free markets strangled by government interference equals rising prices.
Phyllis Hunsinger is founder of the Freedom & Responsibility Education Enterprise Foundation in Grand Junction. The FREE Foundation provides resources to students and teachers in Western Colorado to promote the understanding of economics, financial literacy and free enterprise. A former teacher, principal and superintendent, Hunsinger wrote “Down and Dirty: A ‘How To’ Math Book.” Reach Hunsinger at phyllis@free-dom.us.com. For more information about the FREE Foundation, log on to the website located at www.free-dom.us.com. F
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